Democrats push for new Trump witnesses
More witnesses could testify in Congress if Senate refuses to allow fresh evidence in impeachment
Democrats are reportedly considering calling more witnesses before Congress if the Senate does not allow fresh evidence in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Republicans want a swift hearing, but the Democrats believe calling new witnesses in the House of Representatives will pressure some senators to break ranks.
DEMOCRATS are reportedly considering calling more witnesses to testify in front of Congress if the Senate does not allow fresh evidence to be heard in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
The trial – the third in the United States’ history – begins tomorrow with Mitch Mcconnell, the Senate majority leader, pushing for a swift hearing without calling new witnesses.
But his stance has been undercut in recent days by a series of damning interviews given by Lev Parnas, a Russian-born businessman linked to Rudy Giuliani, the US president’s lawyer, and the willingness of John Bolton, Mr Trump’s former security adviser, to testify under subpoena.
“We would be remiss in the House of Representatives not to follow this trail to its conclusion,” said Hank Johnson, a Democrat from Georgia and a member of the judiciary committee that drafted the articles of impeachment.
“Parnas has emerged as an important figure in this criminal conspiracy to force or coerce a foreign government to help Trump’s re-election campaign,” he told The Hill website.
Democrat strategists believe calling fresh witnesses in the House will heap pressure on a handful of Republican senators – including Mitt Romney, the former presidential candidate, and Maine’s Susan Collins – to break ranks on the measure.
The rival strategies became clearer over a weekend in which thousands of women took to the streets to march against Mr Trump.
Mr Trump’s legal team issued a sixpage document describing the impeachment trial as a “dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their president”.
It was, the document added, “a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election, now just months away”.
Alan Dershowitz, a key member of Mr Trump’s legal team, reinforced the point as he did a circuit of the political talk shows yesterday morning. Mr Dershowitz, a former Harvard law professor who describes himself as a liberal Democrat, insisted “abuse of power” – one of the articles of impeachment – did not give a legal justification for the removal of a president.
“The vote was to impeach on abuse of power which was not in the constitutional criteria for impeachment and obstruction of Congress,” he said.
“The framers didn’t want to have that kind of criteria in our constitution because it weaponises impeachment.
“I strongly believe abuse of power is so open-ended – half of the American presidents in history from Adams to Jefferson to Lincoln to Roosevelt have been accused by their enemies of abusing their power.”
His view was echoed by Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican senator. “Abuse of power is so poorly defined here I don’t know presidents in the future can confirm their conduct,” he said.
Senior Democrats reacted with incredulity at Mr Dershowitz’s interpretation of the law.
Cory Booker, the New Jersey senator, who abandoned his presidential bid last week, described the arguments as “preposterous”.
“That is just stunning to me. I don’t know what signal we are sending to future presidents in America that you can openly solicit foreign interference, where you can hold up taxpayer dollars – when in fact the government accountability office can say it was illegal to do so – in order to extort to leverage foreign interference in our elections.”
Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, added: “We will be fighting for a fair trial. That is the foundation on which this all rests.”
In a separate development, Andrew Peek, the president’s newest Russia adviser, reportedly has left his post, just three months after starting the job.
His departure came as Mr Schiff warned intelligence officials had been withholding documents from his committee on Ukraine.
‘We would be remiss in the House of Representatives not to follow this trail [of evidence] to its conclusion’
‘Half of the American presidents in history from Adams to Jefferson to Lincoln to Roosevelt have been accused by their enemies of abusing their power’